Adjustable shore head



Aug. 9, 1955 J. s. WRIGHT ADJUSTABLE SHORE HEAD INVENTOR. JOE S. WRIGHT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 16, 1952 ATTORNEYS Aug. 9, 1955 J. s. WRIGHT ADJUSTABLE SHORE HEAD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 16, 1952 INVENTOR.

, JOE s. WRIGHT r s ATTORNEYS ADJUSTABLE SHORE HEAD Joe 8. Wright, Dayton, Ohio Application Uctober 16, 1952, Serial No. 314,994

4 Claims. (Cl. 25-1315) The present invention relates to construction apparatus and more particularly to shore heads used in constructing concrete doors and other structures.

When forming concrete structures such as reinforced concrete support beams and integrally connected concrete floors, wooden joists and beams have been employed to give form to the concrete. These wooden members 'are nailed together in place and when dismantling, after the concrete is poured and hardened, it is a diificult task to remove the nails from the wooden pieces in order to condition these parts for another job.

Moreover, after a few periods of use in which nails are first inserted and then removed upon dismantling the forms, often the wooden beam sides and the wooden joist bears and the joists, also the so-called kickers, become so marred with nail holes and nail slits as to be unserviceable.

Furthermore, when wooden members are employed as reinforcements in holding the forms together, it has been found that on occasion these members could not sustain the pressures exerted by large or heavy quantities of concrete, thus again, necessitating profuse use of nails and wooden wedges.

The primary object of the invention is to eliminate the need for many of these wooden blocks in the construction of concrete buildings and to substitute there for metal elements which can be used over and over again.

Another object is to provide shore heads and accessory elements which require no nails, and therefore, no tedious dismantling operations.

A still further object is to provide an adjustable shore head which will accommodate various lengths and sizes of concrete beams and is of a character as will apply the necessary pressure to the concrete bodies regardless of length and size.

Another object is to provide an adjustable shore head in which the pressure against the form beams is exerted in a steady and strong manner by wedge elfect.

Still another object is to provide a short head which can be used in the so-called T-head constructions, as well as the L-head.

A further object is to facilitate the installation of concrete shoring forms by the use of metal wedge devices in which the wedge effects are attained within the device and also, without requiring any appreciable number of nails or other holding elements.

Other objects and features will be apparent as the specification is perused in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 represents a perspective view partly cutaway in section and showing several of the improved shore heads in place about a set of forms during the shoring of the concrete.

Figure 2 is a view, also in perspective of the improved shore head but on a larger scale than Figure 1.

Figure 3 represents a fragmentary sectional view of one end of the shore head showing the wedging effects.

nited States atent 0 Figure 4is an elevational view, partly in section of the shore head and showing its use in both a T-head and L-head.

Figure represents an enlarged view of the L-head or end portion of the shore beam, showing the universality of use of the improved shore head.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the same end of the shore head as in Figure 5 but showing different details.

Figure 7 depicts a fragmentary plan view, somewhat enlarged, of the wedge devices or metal kickers on the adjustable shore head.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of an end kicker which can be advantageously employed in the improved shore head.

in the construction of heavy concrete floors for example, shown at 1 in Figure 1, it is customary to provide either heavy steel I beams running transversely of the floor or else reinforced concrete beams of rectangular shape. These reinforced concrete beams of which the rods 2 are shown in Figure l are integrally joined to the concrete floor by being poured at the same time. The concrete beams are spaced a predetermined distance apart depending upon the load on the floor and the thickness, and the spaces between the beams are closed by heavy wooden boards to support and form the concrete.

The concrete beams are usually of heavy cross section, even when reinforced and a wooden form is provided which encloses the two sides and the lower surface of the beam, after which the form is knocked down and dismantled preparatory to being used again.

In Figure l the form for the concrete beams is shown generally by the reference character 3. This form comprises two long wooden uprights 4 called beam sides and spaced apart by a wooden plank 5 usually designated a beam bottom. These wooden sides 4 are reinforced widthwise along their length by upright cleats 6, usually twoby-fours and then across these cleats there is a long Wooden bar '7 usually designated joist bear which is nailed to the cleats and serves as a support member for a number of wooden beams 8 to which planking 9 is nailed. The latter comprises the bottom form member for the floor portion extending between the reinforced concrete beams.

It has been found that when the side beams 4 and the bottom beams 5 are temporarily held together by clamping effects obtained through the use of wooden blocks, not only is there a tendency for the large and heavy mass of concrete to spread the beam sides against these blocks but also when the latter are held together by nails, the job of dismantling the blocks and removing the nails is indeed diflicult.

In accordance with my invention, there is provided a novel and practical form of clamping device, usually designa ed a shore head, made entirely of metal, and in which the clamping and de-clamping effects are obtained in a most effective manner. Referring more particularly to Figures 2 and 7 the improved shore head comprises an elongated member it), preferably made of malleable iron and having an inverted U section. The member 10 has a length sufiicient to accommodate the maximum width of the concrete reinforced beam with an additional length sufficient to accommodate various kinds of clamping devices or kickers.

There is a longitudinal continuous slot 11 extending length-wise of the member it), this slot extending to one end of the member but stopping short of the other member as indicated by the reference character 12 in Figure 6. One end of the member 10 is partially closed by a wall 13, leaving the end of the slot 11 open, and also providing a transversely extending slot 14 of a length corresponding to the distance between the two parallel legs of the member 16 and of a width sufficient to receive a slide member which will be described presently.

The opposite end of the member is closed by a wall butin this wall thereis a rectangular opening 16 for receiving one end ofa cross brace which will also be described presently.

In. addition to-the slot 11 which extends practically'the full length-of the beam 10, there are a plurality of. short individual slots -17 spaced on each side of the center slot 11 and extending over the length of the head.

The wedging effects introduced by the shore head are obtained by the use of two angularly shaped members 18, preferably made of malleable iron and constituted of a vertical portion 19 and a horizontal portion 2%. An angular reinforcing web 21 extends between the vertical and horizontal portions. The lower portion or plate 20 is provided with rectangular slots 22 on each side of the web 21 and at the-end of the plate remote from the vertical portion 19 there is ,a pair of rectangularly shaped reentrant notches 23. The slots 22 and the notches 23 are spaced apart in a lateral direction the same distance as the slots 17 in the short:head but the distance between the slots 22 and'between each notch 23 and the nearest slot is somewhat less than the distance between the slots 17. The reason for this will appear presently. The slots 22 and the notches 23 are adapted to receive manually operated wedges .24 of malleable iron which are preferably secured by a flexible chain 25 to a ring 26 passing through the web 21.

The lower surface of the plate 20 is provided with a rectangnlarly shaped tongue 27 (Fig. 2) joined to the plate by a neck 2%, this tongue constituting a slide and is received by the under surface of the horizontal leg of the inverted U-shaped member 10. Thus the members 1-8 are adapted. to slide along the upper surface of the member 10 and are held in vertical direction by means of the tongue 27 which engages an underneath surface of the beam 10; It is apparent that both members 18 can be introduced into position at the slot 14, and if desired, a pair of rivets or screws 29 may be secured to the beam 10 to. prevent the complete withdrawal of the members 18. The latter can obviously be slid in the opposite direction only as far as the wall 15. The fact that the members 18 are always kept intact with the shore head 10, i. e., theycannot be removed without removing the screws 29, eliminates one of the vexations problems encountered: when blocks of wood are employed for the clamping effects and these blocks are either mislaid or misused.

In practice, the adjustable shore heads 1'0 are laid crosswise of the beam sides 4 and the beam bottom 5, sufiiciently close together to sustain the downward. pressure of the reinforced concrete beam and each shore head is held in horizontal direction by any suitable type of: adjustable vertical support generally indicated at 30; As shown, the support 30 is a well-known patented type in common use in the trade and in general comprises a pair of spaced wooden blocks 32 with a hand operated wedging device (not shown) within the support 30 and attached to' metal uprights. 33 supported in any suitable manner on the basement floor. The blocks 31 are of a width as to fit snugly within the interior of the shore head 10 and holes 33 may be provided in the sides of the beam 10 to receive nails for temporarily driving into the edges of the wooden blocks 30.

Thus, when adjustable supports 30 are given their proper height by operating the elevating handle and the short heads 10, nailed or otherwise secured to the sup ports 30, the members 13 are manually slidapart a distance sufficient to receive the preformed beam sides 4.and' the beam bottom 5. Between the members 18 and the beam side 4, there is inserted two-by-fours 34'which are called kickers. The members 18 are then manually slid against these kickers as shown in Figure 1 after which the wedges 24 are inserted in their slots 22 or the notches 23 depending on which of these slots or notches the wedges 24 are inserted and a slight tap given to the top of these wedges, the members 18 can be forced closer together, thereby to apply a clamping effect to the kickers 34. This in turn forces beam sides 4 against the edges of the beam bottom 5 and no amount or weight of concrete in the rectangular channel formed by the beam sides and bottom can force lower ends of the beam sides away from the beam bottom.

In Figure 7 this inching or slow but continuous clamping movement is provided the members 18 as the wedges 24 are inserted and pressed downwardly. When the effect of the wedges causes the slots 22 and 1-7 to come into exact registration, one of the wedges can be removed and .inserted into the next slot. Pressure on the Wedge will cause the member 18 to move still farther along the short head after which the wedge on the opposite side of the web 21 is withdrawn and reinserted into the slots in partial registration. Notches 23 may also receive the wedges when desired so that considerable leeway is provided inaccommodating additional movement of the member 18 on the adjustable shore head.

Figure 4shows the use of the improved adjustable shore head in a so-called L-head'construction generally at 36. Generally speaking, in the T-head construction the shore head 10 is usually mounted symmetrically on the vertically adjustable support 30 with the members 18 positioned at substantially equal distances from the ends of the shore head, whereas, in the L-head construction the shore head 10 is unsymmetrical with respect to the vertical support 30 and the members 18 now slide to one end of the shore head. The latter is usually used at the end or wall portions of the floor to allow an overhanging bracing effect. In this figure the outer side beam 37 is made wider'than the inner side beam 4 on account of the added thickness of the floor and the reinforced concrete beam at this point. Longitudinally extending bar 38 is nailed or otherwise secured to the beam side 37; The corresponding lower. bar or kicker 39 is pressed against the lower edge of the beam side. One of the members 18 of the shore head contacts the kicker 39 and is held in place in the manner described hereinafter while the other member 1-8 of the shore head is pressed and clamped against acorresponding kicker position at the narrow beam side 4.

In order to brace the upper portion of the beam side 37 at the bars 38, I provide a retaining member 443cm the adjustable. shore head, this retaining member being show-n in detail in Figures Sand 8. It comprises a vertical wall or. plate ll-having rear reinforcing members 42 of rectangular shape with short leg portions 43 extending downwardly merging. into foot members 44; These foot members extend a greater distance forward of the legs 43 than to the rear of the legs and are so shaped and spaced apart that the footmembers can be inserted into the slots 17 and held within those slots against the underside of the member 19 when transverse pressure is applied to the plate. In order to insert the feet 44- into the slots the plate 41 is held at a forward angle and when the feet are received in the slots, the plate is moved backward into the vertical planeat which time the plate will be held firmly butdetachably to the upper surface of the member 10. As in the case of the memberslS; the'plate 41 and associated parts are constituted preferably of malleable iron.

Two na il holes 45' may be provided in the plate 41, one or both ofthese holes being used to receive nails driven into a wooden bar 46 which abuts the plate 41 and rests on the upper surface of the shore head 10. A diagonal brace 47 is nailed or otherwise secured between the bars 38 and 46. While I have not shown the use of notches in the plate support member 41 but preferred to rely solely on the long feet 44 to give the proper stability to this member it is apparent that if desired, a plate can be bridged across the rear projecting portions of the feet 44 to carry notches into which wedges can be inserted. However, I find that a strong clamping effect is not necessary in the outer end of the L-head construction since there is not much pressure at the top portion of the beam side 37 and any clamping effect at this point can be supplied by the brace 47 at the time the nails are inserted. In general, the place where the greatest or maximum clamping effects are necessary is at the lower end of the concrete beam on account of the heavy weight of material at this point. It is obvious that if resired, one of the members 18 can serve the same purpose as the plate member 41 in the L-head construction although I have found that the plate arrangement as shown in Figure 8 is quite suflicient for the function assigned to it.

A diagonal brace 48 may be constituted of wood or metal and applied between the wooden blocks of the adjustable vertical shore and the under surface of the member 10. This brace when made of metal may be provided with a right angle notch 49 at the top for insertion into the rectangular opening 16 and thus assist in the reducing of the strain at the end of the member 10 introduced by the outer pressure of the beam side 37 when the form is filled with concrete.

From the foregoing it is evident that I have disclosed an all metal form of shore head with adjustable clamping members 18 and in which the clamping effects are obtained by wedges 24 and co-operating out-of-register notches in the members 18 and the beam 10. The improved form of shore head including the notches permits of an end abutment 41 of an inexpensive but effective type which can be employed in the L-head construction. Upon dismantling, the various form elements can readily be taken apart as there is only a minimum number of nails used and none of these nails are employed in holding wooden blocks together but simply at the places where the material elements contact the wood and the nails serve as non-slipping agents. The wedges 24, the elements 18 and even the end plate 41 are deta'chably secured to the shore head 10 and cannot be lost or mislaid so that the shore head is always in condition to be used over and over again. The various metal parts can be readily cast and can be made not only of malleable iron but any other suitable non-brittle metal such as aluminum.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to diflferent usages and conditions, and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An adjustable shore head comprising a metallic elongated member having an inverted U-shaped section, a continuous slot extending substantially the entire length of the horizontal wall of said member about midway of the width thereof, a series of spaced slots in said horizontal wall on each side of said continuous slot, the slots of each side of the continuous slot being in alignment, an angularly shaped member adapted for slidable movement on the top face of said horizontal wall, said member having a depending tongue adapted to be received by said continuous slot, and means including a series of equally spaced slots in said angular member to cooperate with the said series of slots in said elongated member whereby said angular member may be inched along the entire length of said elongated member.

2. An adjustable shore head comprising a metallic elongated member having an inverted U -shaped section, a continuous slot extending substantially the entire length of the horizontal wall of said member about midway of the width thereof, a series of spaced slots in said horizontal wall on each side of said continuous slot, the slots of each side of the continuous slot being in alignment, an angularly shaped member adapted for slidable movement on the top face of said horizontal wall, said member having a depending tongue adapted to be received by said continuous slot, a series of spaced slots in said angular member on each side of said tongue directly over the corresponding series of slots in said horizontal wall but having a different amount of space therebetween than said horizontal wall slots, and wedge means for insertion into a slot in the angular member and a slot therebeneath in said elongated member.

3. An adjustable shore head as claimed in claim 2 with the slots in each of said elongated members and said angular member being of equal length.

4. An adjustable shore head as claimed in claim 2 with the slots in said angular member being spaced closer together than the slots in said elongated member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 825,284 Dillon July 3, 1906 1,699,503 Lampert Jan. 15, 1929 1,726,976 Bosco Sept. 3, 1929 1,747,779 Lampert Feb. 18, 1930 1,842,683 Markham Jan. 26, 1932 2,003,635 Markham June 4, 1935 2,257,196 Schneider Sept. 30, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 473,394 Great Britain Oct. 12, 1937 

